Eeeeeek ragwort!!

[notpoodle]

ragwort has been found in angels field :( (and i am kicking myself for not spotting it myself earlier!) the yardmanagerguy dug most of it out with the tractor but theres still some left. three of us went down there today and pulled (with gloves!) it out as much as we could and i will pop into homebase for a suitable device tomorrow. the ragwort cant have been there for that long and there isnt a lot of it but im worried it will spread etc.


im a ragwort novice, help!


am also wqorried that angel might have eaten some of it (how likely is that?) and her sluggishness at the moment is poisoning? but then ragwort builds up slowly doesnt it?


julia

[eventerbabe]

get a ragfork. they are fab for getting it out, roots and all. most of our local horsey shops sell them. she'd need to eat a lot of it for poisoning to show up this quickly i think.

[Tangle]

If it hasn't flowered and gone to seed then it won't have spread yet :). And as long as there's grass in the field she's very unlikely to have gone for fresh ragwort by choice.

If you're really worried then your vet can do a liver function test, but it doesn't sound like there's been too much exposure from this field :)

[notpoodle]

some of it was in flower, most of it was either very small or still at rosette stage. we looked in m friends poisonous plants book and there was all that stuff like 'if there isnt much grass in the field, some horses develop a taste for ragwort' which is what made me panic as there isnt a lot of grass in the field (ie grass is more occupational therapy than food. angel is coming in for hay ever afternoon). would ragwort poisoning show in a blood test? i was thinking of having a blood test done anyway so thought mabe i could kill two brids with one stone.

julia
x

ps: we bagged the ragpwrt up and someone took it home to bun it, was that the right thing to do?

[jowyles]

Id say dont worry, horses wont touch it in the field it smells bad, grass is nicer, its only a real threat if its in your hay, tho best to get it out so it doesnt spread to a hay field or something

[artemis]

Burning is the best way to deal with it. It's not likely that she has eaten any as it is very bitter unless cut - that's why it is so dangerous in hay! :eek:

[notpoodle]

there arent an hayy fields at the yard (we should be so lucky!), all the hay is bought externally. i will remain vigilant and armed with a weeding device though!

julia